Projects & Impact

AHP has built its business on applying best practices, many of which we have helped to shape, and real-world, hands-on knowledge to improving systems and business practices for our clients.

In all of the work that we do, we are guided by our mission to improve health and human services systems of care and business operations to help organizations and individuals reach their full potential.

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Detroit Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency (D-WCCMHA) engaged AHP in 2006 to provide and coordinate technical assistance and evaluation services for eight community mental health centers that received new funding to develop and operate supportive housing and supported employment initiatives. AHP helped implement these Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) evidence-based practices (EBPs) to fidelity, together with ensuring the client and its stakeholders had access to timely and ongoing information on program performance.

Work occurred over many years (from 2006 through 2015) and involved many tasks and elements. Following are highlights of some of this work:

2006–2011: AHP defined and developed a sustainable strategy to implement supported employment and housing initiatives. It also developed guidelines to assist providers in implementing these practices. AHP senior staff facilitated numerous onsite strategic planning and operations management sessions for executive leadership of the nine agencies in the initiative. Other work during this time included:

Development of bi-annual fidelity assessments of supported employment and supportive housing models implemented by provider agencies;

Redesign of outcomes evaluation to facilitate performance monitoring along with providing technical assistance in the form of training development and implementation;

Performance of an overhaul of existing quantitative consumer-level evaluation data, working closely with a local evaluator and project stakeholders. The new system led to a marked increase in provider program engagement that allowed delivery of monthly performance data for eight providers serving 200 active consumers; and

Planning and implementation of nine site visits to evaluate provider agencies on an annual basis.

2012-2013: AHP worked together with a planning team to design curriculum and develop priority messaging. AHP gathered feedback on draft materials that resulted in development and implementation of a two-day onsite GOI training session, as well as two new online training courses, including:

Critical Time Intervention (CTI) and Permanent Supportive Housing; and

General Organizational Index (GOI) and Permanent Supportive Housing.

In addition, AHP implemented a plan to gather service use data for both supportive housing and employment consumers that expanded descriptive information on consumers served. This data demonstrated a reduction in costly inpatient and crisis-related service use following supported employment and supportive housing program enrollment.

Impact:
Over nine years AHP had a great impact on the Detroit Wayne County community mental health centers. Among key impacts were the development of a new data system that led to a marked increase in provider program engagement, and which allowed delivery of monthly performance data for eight providers serving 200 active consumers; and a demonstrated reduction in costly inpatient and crisis-related service use following supported employment and supportive housing program enrollment.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) contracted with AHP to provide training and technical assistance (TA) on housing and homelessness to SAMHSA Homeless Program Branch grantees and other homeless housing and service providers operating across the U.S. states and territories. Homeless housing and service programs are united by a vision of ending homelessness by supporting individuals through a process of change as they improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. HHRN focuses on four of SAMHSA’s strategic initiatives: trauma and justice; military service members, veterans, and their families; recovery support; and data, outcomes, and quality. The goals of this project include:

promoting the adoption of best practices for serving people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless and have chronic mental illness or co-occurring disorders;

increasing workforce capacity through TA and training;

disseminating information to the homeless services field in support of SAMHSA’s strategic initiatives;

collaborating with other agencies and organizations to improve coordination of SAMHSA activities focused on addressing homelessness and building effective partnerships; and measuring meaningful change.

The HHRN TA team is led by AHP and includes partners the Center for Social Innovation and JBS International. Key accomplishments of SAMHSA’s HHRN project include:

conducting 70 webinars on 53 topics;

offering 28 virtual learning classrooms to SAMHSA grantees;

providing responses to grantee TA requests, including the received provision of onsite training on implementing Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) for 11 states;

leading workshops at conferences and symposiums and conducting virtual workshops;

conducting expert panels;

developing two sustainable implementation guides—one that promotes effective collaboration among law enforcement, homeless service providers, and the community and the other that helps direct service staff and people experiencing homelessness how to go about getting or replacing the various types of ID documents.

AHP updated, enhanced, and field tested two Evidence-Based Practices KITs focused on people experiencing homelessness—the Permanent Supportive Housing ToolKIT and the Integrated Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders ToolKIT. In addition, HHRN has conducted led multifaceted, interagency policy academies on Chronic Homelessness (CH) and fostered the development of collaborative relationships with federal regional partners.

Impact:
Through AHP's work, HHRN has provided assistance to more than 50 federal grantees, along with coordinating in-person and virtual grantee-to-grantee model of practice workshops. HHRN has served as a resource for SAMHSA through outreach and education, virtual and in-person expert panel sessions, website, videos, and other tools.